The struggle in Syria against the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS or ISIS) has reached a new level. According to a recent agreement between Moscow and Tehran, Air and Space Forces of Russia are given the opportunity to use the Iranian Air Base Hamadan for strikes on positions and targets of the jihadist terrorists.

This step will allow the Russian aircraft to fight against militants more effectively because the flight time of bombers to targets in Syria from Iran is less than two times the flight time needed flying from Russian airports.

Moreover, large-scale naval exercises involving vessels equipped with the modern strike systems Caliber were carried out in August in the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas. This powerful weapon system has already passed ‘the baptism of fire’ in early October 2015, during a massive strike on ISIS positions. The Russian Defense Ministry also stated that Iran and Iraq have both allowed Russia to use their airspace to carry through cruise missiles Caliber-NK.

Meanwhile, this ‘military activity’ once again aroused serious concern of the US administration. Washington's statements about the dangers allegedly posed by Russia to the countries of the Caspian Sea region make this US concern evident. According to the White House, the Kremlin is conducting maneuvers of combat ships with the purpose of showing neighbours in the region – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan – its military superiority and strengthening the status of regional leader. In this regard, the American politicians with the assistance of the media began to blow up another story about ‘aggressive Russia’ which allegedly ‘threatens the security of its neighbors and seeks to bear all sorts of pressure and forces them to obey her will’.

Once again, the USA is trying to present Russia as an ‘aggressor’, considering that the whole world does not notice their double standards, those ‘unilateral interpretations’ they are trying to impose to achieve their goals. If suitable to US interests, Washington shamelessly ignores international treaties, laws and regulations. The US does not have ‘permanent enemies or permanent friends’, they have only solid ‘permanent interests’. For serving US interests Washington is ready to ignore the entire world community.

Losing positions on the international stage, the United States is anxiously watching the strengthening of Russia's position in the Caspian Sea region, the Middle East and around the world in general. Consequently, Washington is seeking to stall this development. But to their great regret, in recent years many countries have begun to understand that Russia is not ‘the aggressor’. Unlike Washington, Russia has proved to be a serious, reliable political and economic partner.